October 16, 2003	Thursday	Sha'aban 19, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 15: The British Home Office has announced that the nationals of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Angola, Cameron and Lebanon planning to transit the UK will be required from October 16 to have a direct airside transit visa (DATV), says a press release.

According to the press release, the above condition is not applicable to holders of valid US or Canadian visas travelling to or from USA or Canada, those with valid US permanent resident cards issued after April 21, 1998, and holders of valid Canadian resident cards issued on or after June 28, 2002.

The condition does not apply to category “D” (all categories except visitors) visas issued by any EEA state with more than three months’ validity and to holders of valid common format EEA residence permits.

Passengers planning to stop off in the UK or whose flights departed from a different airport to the one in which they arrived will continue to require a full UK visit visa.

Transitional arrangements have been made for those who have already purchased tickets, the press release adds.

Passengers who purchased tickets before October 15 for outward travel before October 20 and passengers abroad on October 16 who return to Pakistan by November 12 do not require DATVs.

In 2002, there were over 2,400 claims of asylum from Pakistani nationals, said British High Commissioner Mark Lyall Grant.

“The Home Office has identified violations of airside transit as a key weakness in our defences. Travellers from 38 countries are already required to apply DATVs to transit the UK. Asylum applications from those countries declined sharply after we imposed DATVs. We have now added another six countries, including India and Pakistan, to the list.

Other countries, including the United States, France and Germany, have similar requirements. People who hold a valid visa for the UK, US, Canada and in some cases, western Europe do not require a DATV.

“We remain committed to providing a fair and efficient system to ensure that genuine refugees get refugee status, whilst making it harder for those seeking to abuse the asylum system to do so. Legitimate travellers stand to benefit from this new regime. They will face fewer delays and can be confident that their travel will not be disrupted because of action we have to take against those who abuse our system.”